The Case for Australia

Deliciously vibrant, fresh cool-climate shiraz from Australia, with blueberry, blackberry and redcurrant notes. The fruit is backed up by violet, white pepper and delicious spices. Proceeds from this wine go towards Parkinson's disease research in Australia, so this is not only a delightful wine but a good cause too.

A phenomenal-value taste of Western Australian chardonnay, made up of a large percentage of Margaret River fruit. Usually this wine would be entirely Margaret River fruit but due to the smaller yields in the 2022 vintage, prime grapes from surrounding regions were incorporated. This shows delicious stone and tropical fruit on the nose, an attractive nuttiness and sweet spice. The palate is generous, with breadth and depth way beyond its price bracket. Lemon zest, ginger snap and peach combine, with fine tension through to the finish.

A fantastic-value Australian exclusive that proved its quality under blind-tasting conditions in our 2024 Wine Champions blind tastings. Part of our limited-edition Generation Series range of wines celebrating our 150th anniversary year, this is a vibrant, medium bodied and aromatic shiraz which is a clever take on the style from Barossa before the 80s and 90s, when the trend for big, OTT and high-alcohol wines set-in. This is bursting with violets, purple fruit and pepper on the nose. The palate is fresh, zesty and juicy, with a floral finish. We wanted to show the elegance that Barossa shiraz is capable of, and one name stood out to create this special, limited-edition bottling – Whistler. Winners of our 2024 Climate & Nature fund, Whistler want to find an alternative way to control weeds that doesn’t require chemical treatments or tilling but contributes instead to moisture retention, carbon sequestration and soil health. Our funding will support a series of trials over three years with the results shared widely with other growers. For a video message from the winemaker, and for more on the story of this wine, please scroll down.

As is the case with all the Bleasdale wines, this offers a lot of bang for your buck. Aged in French oak barrels, the wine is complex with toasty notes balanced by peach and melon flavours. There is a touch of vanilla and a delicate hint of struck match too, making for a complex and remarkably well-crafted chardonnay at the price. Hats off to the talented winemaker, Paul Hotker.

The same wine that was in the more premium V range in the 2022 vintage, but not quite right for the 2023 blend, and so de-classified. That makes it a particularly good-value taste of an expertly made, light-to-medium bodied co-fermented blend of grenache, shiraz and mourvèdre from a premium site in the Barossa Valley. The nose shows pretty notes of violets, with lifted red-berry, wild-strawberry and juicy blueberry character, with a good twist of pepper. The palate is remarkably vibrant, with delicate tannins and mouthwatering freshness. The juicy blueberry notes continue to be joined by damsons, black cherry and cranberry flavours.

Chenin blanc has a long history in Western Australia, with the first plantings coming from South Africa over 150 years ago. This example comes from the Treeton sub-region of Margaret River in Western Australia and is brooding and delicately toasty on the nose, with notes of nougat and charred peaches. The palate is broad and fleshy with nicely integrated acidity. Long and complex on the finish with a note of peppery brioche, lime zest and mouthwatering salinity. This is barrel fermented but using no new oak, meaning the texture is full and rounded but without imparting any over-the-top oak flavour.